Ratchet-clamp.



PATBNTED JUNE 11, 190?.

1-". E. WALDBN. RATGHET CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5, 1906.

Invehi'w,

Frederick E. axman,-

"R: co.. wunmarou. b, c.

- FREDERICK E. WALDEN, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

RATCHET-CLAIVIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1907.

Application filed March 5,1906- Serial No. 304,219.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. I/VAL- DEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the city and county of WVorcester, in theCommonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented. certainnew and usefulImprovementsin Ratchet-Clamps, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

This invention pertains to that type of clam in which a substantiallyC-shaped mem er is provided with a clamping-screw turningin a suitablenut or threaded opening in one branch of said member, and directedtoward the opposite branch thereof.

The object of this invention is the effecting of improved means wherebysuch screw can at will be set free of the confining threads for quickadjustment, and then put into engagement therewith for the clampingaction.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1is a side view of a clamp embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview on the line XX in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view, butwith the operating parts removed. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of thescrew-engaging and isengaging nut.

The C-sha ed clamping member 1 is formed in su stantially the usualmanner with the work-engaging arm 2, and the screwholding-arm 3. Throughthe latter is a smooth hole 4:, shown in Fig. 3, for the free passage ofthe screw 10. Cutting the hole 4 transversely, is a cylindrical recess 5having at one side thereof a similar recess 6 but smaller in diameter;the latter opening into the former throughout more or less of itsheight. In the recess 5 is located a cylindrical nut 15 the upper halfof the threads 17 of which is cut away, and recessed for a distancedouble that of the threads. In the recess 6 is placed a coiled spring 20the upper end of which presses against the pin 18 projecting from saidcylindrical nut. This pressure is made sufficient to hold the screwthreads 17 in mesh with the screw 10 when the clamp is being used, andto insure against any accidental dislodgment thereof. To release thescrew from said nut and permit it to be freely moved longitudinally, thecylindrical nut is pressed inward until its threads 17 are disengagedfrom the threads of said screw. Then, while holding said nut thus deressed, the clamping-screw can be moved aek and forth as desired. Theouter end of said nut is made somewhat dishing, as shown at 19, in Figs.2 and 4, for better fitting the thumb of the person depressing it.

By having the spring 20 press upward against the pin 18 at one side ofthe nut 15, the latter is given an uneven tilt which tends strongly tobind the nut in its recess 5 and so insure against accidentaldisengagement between its threads and those of the screw, when the samebecome worn from use and the clamp is subjected to unusual strain.Inasmuch as the users thumb is applied to the nut 5 directly in linewith the center thereof, there is no such binding when depressing thenut in the operation of releasing the screw therefrom. To further insureagainst accidental slip between the nut and screw when under strain, Iprefer to have the threads of the screw made ratchet-shaped, with thevertical faces of the threads at the sides toward the thumb-head 1 1.This also permits of the equally important function of permitting thescrew to be pressed inward without stopping to disengage the nuttherefrom as above described. It is this latter arran ement which gives,to my invention the distinguishing name of a ratchet clamp.

hat I claim as my invention and for which I desire Letters Patent is asfollows, to wit A clamp formed at one end with a pair of cylindricalrecesses of unequal diameter extending transverse of the length of theclamp and arranged so that the larger recess communicates with thesmaller, a cylindrical nut fitting slidably in the larger recess andhaving the upper half of its threads cut away, a screw engaging thethreads of said nut, an outwardly projecting pin on one side of said nutextending in said smaller recess, said nut constituting a closing wallfor said smaller recess, a coil spring seating on the wall at the lowerend of said smaller recess and engaging said pin, said projecting pin ofthe nut being located at a point adjacent the upper end of said smallerrecess and at a point at a dis tance from the point of engagementbetween the screw and the threads of the nut, whereby said spring willtend to tilt said nut.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention, I have hereunto setmy hand this third day of March, 1906.

FREDERICK E. WVALDEN.

\Vitnesses:

A. B. UPIIAM, FRED G. TILToN.

